I have been doing way too much baking since I’m stuck home: meringues, croissants (yep! they are beautiful, but I did roll them too thickly), an apple crisp, brownies, and more. Now I just need to get to posting!
Angela of Angela’s Kitchen is our kind hostess and garlic is her theme. I love the sound and the name of her Thai Thighs, so check it out! We are having garlic chicken and broccoli for lunch today, so we’re all set.

And please let me know if you’d like to host.

Monday:
Garlic Chicken and broccoli for lunch and probably dinner–we haven’t ventured out yet.

Tues:
Chai chicken with broccoli–a cinnamon/cardamom/cloves seasoning blend that I made ages ago. We’ll see how it works out.

Weds:
Turkey and celery in chestnut sauce

Thursday:
Red lentil Dal and cauliflower

Friday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Red Pepper chicken!

Treats:
there will be chocolate covered strawberries, as always, and who knows what else. I guess it depends on how many days I’m home!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

As someone who is gluten and sugar free, it seemed quite natural that I’d want to adopt Amy. Amy is quite an impressive chica, just starting out in culinary school with a variety of recipes that she churns out regularly! I’m impressed, especially since I’ve fallen off the posting wagon as of late.

When I got Amy’s e-book to raise money for St. Jude’s walkathon, the granola bars caught my eye for 3 reasons.
1. A good friend died of leukemia when I was in elementary school
2. a year ago next week my labs and symptoms seemed to suggest leukemia. Thankfully I didn’t, but the weeks of fear, poking and prodding and hospitalization made it an abjectly miserable and memorable experience.
3. DH loves granola bars

DH eats a plethora of sugar/HFCS soaked granola bars, and it drives me bonkers. I’ve made him home made granola bars in the past, but alas, he’s complained that they’re sticky or don’t hold together well. However, Amy’s bars were a hit! I made them as directed except I used hazelnuts since it was a snow day and we were out of walnuts. They were study and flavorful, and kept well for weeks in a sealed container, which was a great plus. And most importantly, they passed the picky husband test. I made them again, even, and used cherries, chopped uncrystallized ginger and orange zest. Yum!

So thanks, Amy, for the recipes and inspiration. And I’m sure if people still want to donate to St. Jude’s through Amy or otherwise that they’d be gladly accepted.

This adoption is hosted by the fabulous Sea of Book of Yum. Check out the other adoptions and/or join in on the fun!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Nanaimos=Canadian for bliss

No one was more delighted than me to see this month’s DB pick!

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

A dear friend kicked off my Nanaimo obsession during my Berkeley days. They were uber addictive, and the joke with my roommates was that one of us would creep to the freezer in the middle of the night, grab one and scurry away…and then creep back 30 seconds later and grab another. So Michelle, Adrien and Hayley–these babies are for you! Come raid my freezer.

Good thing for me that these were pretty easily gluten-freeable, but I’m also menos dairy, eggs, corn, soy and most importantly, sugar. I made a version last year and they were good–I like these even better.

So this is my grain and sugar free, vegan and massively delicious new and improved version. They do not taste just like nanaimos, but they are luscious.

One word of warning–they’re dense. As in like, very, very rich. And so a small piece does wonderfully, or at least it would if I didn’t go back for the 2nd small piece…and the 3rd…

Base:
2 cups almonds
¾ cup walnuts
½ tsp stevia powder
¼ cup agave
2 T water
1 tablespoon whole chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
½ tsp salt

Filling:
2 cups raw cashews and macadamias
2 teaspoons whole chia seeds
pinch stevia
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (or more
1.5 cups water
.5 cup agave nectar

Top
8 oz chocolate mass (unsweetened)
¼ cup cashew mac butter
1 cup agave
2 tsp stevia powder
2 Tablespoons mesquite or carob powder
½ tsp vanilla powder

For the base: soak chia in the agave. pulse nuts in the food processor, add in the wet and pulse until combined. Press down into 2 lined 8X8 pans (or a 9X11). Bake at 350 until starting to brown. Allow to cool or put in the freezer

For filling: I put all in the vitamix and throughly blitzed. With a normal blender, you’d absolutely have to soak the nuts. Pour on top of the base, and freeze until hard

For the topping: melt the chocolate, add in other ingredients and whisk very thoroughly until well blended. Pour mix quickly onto of frozen filling, and smooth down with out making a mess.

Store in the freezer, chop with a very sharp knife once hard. Enjoy! I’ve only had them straight from the freezer, I do think they’d ooze at room temp.

Please do check out the other DB Nanaimo masterpieces!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

This Saturday, I took a trip to the Farmer’s market and got a box of goldrush apples…my favorite, and even better that they store so well. I have frozen garlic, raspberries and oven roasted tomatoes from my summer garden harvest, and there’s even one Serrano pepper on our plant in our sunroom. My rosemary plant is alive and well, and of course there are a few jams around, too. I’d love to have more!

For the menu, I’m glad to be back to planning because I know it helps! And I do need new hosts (hint, hint) although Heather is on for next week with chocolate. yum.

Monday:
Chicken with rosemary and olives and roasted cauliflower with rosemary and garlic

Tuesday:
crockpot BBQ chicken with carrots and onions

Weds:
turkey cutlets and caramelized cabbage

Thurs:
lentil dal and papads

Friday:
leftovers

Saturday:
hummus and peppers…one of my very favorites

Baked goods:
the Jan DB treat, which is one of my very favorite most foods ever…stay tuned!
cornbread (maybe)
pumpkin bread (maybe)

And what about everyone else?

Kim at Gluten Free is Life is totally on the ball and helped me get this post up on time. First, check out her new digs! http://www.glutenfreeislife.com/ She’s got sweet potato fries on the menu, which always catches my attention, and squash is her seasonal food of choice.

Angela at Angela’s Kitchen has the cutest little herbs growing, which is such a great reminder that I should be doing that, too! I love her white bean and greens soup, it sound delicious.

Heather of Celiac Family has been trying recipes around the web, like cinnamon rolls and some of the GF gobsmacked recipes, too. I may have to make the ribs for DH for V day…

Yadi of Gluten free diaries joins us for the first time so please give her a warm welcome! she’s got a recipe for rosemary orange chicken and many new ones coming soon so check out her blog

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Ah, I thought one of my resolutions would be to blog more.  So far, not so much.  But I do have a newsletter on eating simple and healthy GF foods, classes in Alexandria, VA, winter recipes and more!

I didn’t end up menu planning last week and the result was not very much cooking and disorganization.  So it’s nice to see how helpful it is for me to get a plan down, even if it tends to move and shift.  And I’m very lucky, my DH was good about either making himself dinner or pitching in/not complaining when dinners weren’t so inspired. It should be a busy week and I’m teaching a GF class next weekend and yet, it’ll all happen somehow.

Our hostess this week is the lovely Kimberly from Gluten free is Life and her theme is pizza. I’ve made a yeast and grain free pizza from a garbanzo crust with a pesto topping and so I will try something again along those lines but likely won’t have time to make it until Sunday. I’m glad for the reminder, though, because we really enjoyed it! And I look forward to seeing everyone else’s pizza themes.

Monday:

Rockfish and kale for lunch,
dinner: visiting relatives so who knows. But they’re good about feeding me GF food, so yahoo.

Tues:
Curried coconut lentils–a new favorite

Weds:
Chicken in tomato sauce with broccoli

Thursday:
Turkey and celery in chestnut sauce

Friday:
leftovers

baked goods:
bread, for a friends’ birthday, with spiced apricot butter
Gingered apple crisp

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

As you can see, DH’s cat is a clingy little dude. His greatest wish is for DH to sprout a kangaroo pouch so that he can snuggle 24/7 and hitch a ride everywhere.

Here’s a quick menu plan. Our hostess is the GFCF cookbook and this is her first time hosting, so please go over and give her a big welcome! Our theme this week is leftover ham, but I can’t eat ham, so I can’t partake in that part! However, lamb is one of my favorites that we only have once or twice a year, and it sound somewhat like ham, so maybe that counts? =)

Monday:
Sauteed peppers, onions, herbs and an avocado

Tues:
Something from my freezer…

Weds:
Lentil Dal and roasted cauliflower

Thursday:
Roasted garlic leg of lamb with kale and Kalamata olives

Friday:
Leftovers, most likely

Baked goods:
pumpkin bread

chocolate raspberry cake (made with butternut squash)

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Given the week it is, I thought I holiday theme would be appropriate. And whatever you do (or don’t) celebrate, I hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful holiday season.  And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!  I need new hosts, and that means you!

I had a busy week of making holiday treats:

Choc chestnut fudge
pralines (vegan and regular)
Choc covered orange slices
Hazelnut crispy balls
Spiced nuts(I just omitted the pretzels)
Heath (and hazelnut) meringues
rugelach
truffles

If you need inspiration, I have this list of 50+ naturally GF treats, which work beautifully for people who don’t want to fuss with specialty ingredients, or need to give relatives a gentle nudge.

and quite honestly, I’m needing a break from making sweets for a few days. I assume I’ll need to make more things for the holiday, but right now, I’m good.

So what’s your favorite GF treat?

Monday:
Mahi Mahi with pesto and baked carrots

Tuesday:
Chicken with rosemary, onions and Kalamata olives with broccoli

Weds:
Lemony Mint Quinoa with asparagus (I know, I try to eat seasonally, but hey)

Thursday-Saturday:
we will be traveling, so I will be taking along the quinoa, some of Amy’s soups, tuna/lettuce/crackers, turkey and celery in chestnut sauce. I will also be trucking along the ingredients for an apple crisp.

And you all?

Kimberley of Gluten Free is Life has an ambitious meal planned, and I love the sound of her Gingerbread cake. She’s going to her dad’s house, and there will be many GF things there for her! She’s got a lot of mixes to keep things easy for Christmas morning.

Rebecca of GFCF Cookbook joins us for the first time. Her big “pot o’chili” sounds perfect for this weather. Do check out her post on “GF” bread in NC that isn’t really GF–what a horrible story.

Heather of Celiac Family says she has an easy week planned (I say it still looks ambitious!) including chili and a Christmas buffet. She’s got ideas for GF holiday gift giving, too, so check it out!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Ricki of Diet dessert and Dogs has a new Anti Candida (gluten and sugar free) e-cookbook for only $5.  There are terrific recipes included, such as Carob Orange Cookies and Stevia Sweetened Whipped Cream.  Yum!

She ALSO has a super generous, choose your own adventure cookbook giveaway where you actually get to choose what you win. Does it get any better?

Elana is cooking up a great give away of 5 pounds of almond flour AND her new cookbook, The Gluten Free Almond flour Cookbook.  But it’s only open until Jan 11th, so scurry on over!

Any other great giveaways coming up? Let me know in the comments!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

It was a busy week of baking, as usual around this time of year.  Best of all there is Chocolate Chestnut Fudge which is one of my all time favorites because it is super easy and super yummy and a way to recreate that amazing chocolat-y goodness minus the HFCS, sugar and marshmallows.  Try it.  Seriously.

But I tend to overdo things, so for gifts there will be:

• hazelnut krispie balls
• pralines (dairy free and regular)
• Chestnut fudge
• Choc covered orange peel
• Rugelach
• chocolate covered pomegranate seeds
• Fruit and nut balls but made sugar free
• Heath and hazelnut meringues

This way, there will be boxes that are dairy free and ones that are sugar free  and all, of course, will be gluten free.

Our kind hostess this week is Heather of Celiac Family, who always delights with her recipes and great info.  She chose cinnamon, which I put in many things.  It gives depth to chocolate, which is why it appears in the fudge, but it also helps stabilize blood sugar in addition to just being yummy.  And somehow I think I’m going to need my blood sugar stabilized this week.

Monday:Turkey and celery in chestnut sauce

Tuesday: Quinoa Italiana with the few tomatoes left in my sunroom

Weds: Salmon and roasted thyme peppers

Thursday: Chicken in a coconut curry sauce with broccoli

Friday leftovers!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

I had a fun week of baking last week, including carob balls and dairy free pralines per my sister’s request (I will post soon!). And looking towards this week, I’m eagerly anticipating soup and finally, a time to unwind a bit.

Our hostess for the menu swap is Esther from Lilac Kitchen, and she’s chosen suet. Now, this may be a common ingredient across the pond but it’s new to me, so I look forward to seeing how it’s used!

Monday:
Chicken and broccoli in fresh mint sauce

Tuesday:
Turkey soup!

Weds:
Pesto-ed mahi with steamed kale and kalamatas

Thursday:
Lentil dal with roasted cauliflower

Friday:
leftovers!

Baked goods:
cheesecake, I think
pumpkin bread (maybe)

From my garden:
aside from herbs, that’s all for the season. Most of the raspberries froze on the vine, regretfully.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.